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Katla Quakes Stop

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Katla Quakes Stop

The swarm of earthquakes under the infamous Katla volcano, which had been worrying scientists this week, appears to have all but stopped.

No earthquakes at all were measured in the area overnight, while the night before saw a quake of magnitude 3.3, followed by several sharp aftershocks.

Activity began to quickly subside from yesterday morning and has yet to show signs of starting up again, Vísir reports.

The quakes emanated from a shallow distance within the mountain, which scientists now believe may be caused by geothermal heat in the ground, rather than a lava intrusion.

A swarm of seismic activity is common under Katla between one and three times per year—but as the volcano is overdue an eruption, based on the regularity of eruptions in recent centuries, the area is being especially closely watched at the moment.

Katla has erupted 20 times since settlement and erupts every 13-95 years. It has now been 97 years since an eruption—though there may have been unconfirmed eruptions that did not break the Mýrdalsjökull glacier ice in 1995, 1999 and 2011.